Overview
A hit in the 90s, and a high school-set favourite ever since — as well as a key title on Sarah Michelle Gellar (Do Revenge), Ryan Phillippe (I Love That for You), Reese Witherspoon (Your Place or Mine), Selma Blair (After We Collided) and Joshua Jackson's (Dr Death) respective resumes — Cruel Intentions isn't done with its dangerous liaisons yet. The teen-centric adaptation of 1782 novel Les Liaisons dangereuses has already spawned two direct-to-video sequels in 2001 and 2004, one of which starred a very young Amy Adams (The Woman in the Window) taking over Gellar's role. As theatre fans know, Cruel Intentions: The 90s Musical has also been singing and dancing its way across Australian stages of late. Now, in the works next: a Cruel Intentions TV show.
TV Line reports Amazon is behind this latest revival of a 90s favourite — a trend that's also seen A League of Their Own and Interview with the Vampire get the same treatment in the last year alone. This isn't the first time that Cruel Intentions has been slated to make the leap to the small screen, though, with a sequel series floated in the mid-2010s but never coming to fruition, and the aforementioned Cruel Intentions 2 actually fashioned out of a prequel series called Manchester Prep that didn't make it to air.
This time around, it looks like there's an eight-episode reboot on the way, once again about scheming step-siblings. They'll be in Washington, and at an elite college — getting immersed in fraternity and sorority life, and even seducing the US Vice President's daughter.
If you're now humming Placebo's 'Every You Every Me', The Verve's 'Bittersweet Symphony' or Fatboy Slim's 'Praise You' to yourself, that's understandable. There's no word yet if the next spin on Cruel Intentions will feature any of the 1999 classic's tracks — or cast, or indeed who might star it in. There's also nothing on when the show might drop, or where Down Under, with it reportedly set for Amazon's FreeVee streaming service in the US.
Filming is apparently set to start in Toronto before April is out, however, which means that this series isn't all that far away from hitting streaming queues.
If you've seen the OG movie, then you'll know the initial story, with the 90s-era Cruel Intentions following step-siblings Sebastian Valmont (Phillippe) and Kathryn Merteuil (Gellar). Manipulating each other's love lives is their main hobby, a pastime that levels up a few notches when Kathryn places a bet on whether Sebastian can sleep with Annette Hargrove (Witherspoon), the headmaster's daughter at their exclusive prep school.
There's obviously no sneak peek at Amazon's Cruel Intentions series yet, but here's the orignal's trailer:
Amazon's Cruel Intentions TV series doesn't yet have a release date — we'll update you with one when further details are announced.
Via TV Line.